Never Again
by ReKoJ
Summary: Hotch has a problem. Spencer has had enough.


Aaron knew that the damage was done and irreparable before Spencer even hit the ground. He'd promised to never hurt him and to always protect him./ If that was his job, then why had he seen fit to hurt him? Spencer stayed on the floor where he'd fallen, the tears welling in his eyes. His cheek stung where Aaron's hand had made contact but he didn't dare move. He just stared at Aaron, the man that was supposed to love him. This was not the first time that this had happened and the last time was supposed to be the last.

Aaron put his raised hand down, backing up until he was against the wall, just staring in disbelief. The silence in the room seemed to swallow them. Finally Hotch seemed to find his voice, "Spencer, I'm..."

Spencer put up his hand. "Don't say it Aaron. Don't tell me how sorry you are, that it was all just an accident. Don't tell me how it'll never happen again. I've heard that before. I need you to get away from me and stay away." Spencer, ignoring the hurt look on Aaron's face, carefully got off the floor, slipped his shoes on, opened the door and walked out.

Aaron watched him leave, hating what he had done. He didn't try to stop Spencer as the door slammed shut. The silence seemed to sink deep into Aaron's body in waves as he wondered if his relationship could be salvaged.

Spencer arrived for work early the next day; he needed to talk to Strauss about possibly getting transferred to another unit. He knew that she wouldn't like it but he also knew that he couldn't stay. It would be awkward to be working with Aaron, having to take orders from him, knowing that they had once been intimate, that they had once been planning a future together.

Derek was the next one to get there. He was used to seeing Spencer there early but this was too early. "Pretty boy." As he walked up he gasped. There was a rather large, dark purple bruise on Spencer's cheek and his bottom lip was split. "What happened Reid?"

Reid couldn't bring his gaze up to Morgan's. "Nothing."

Morgan knelt down so that he was at eye level with the genius. "You know that once Hotch-" he stopped in mid sentence as he noted the sad look in Spencer's eyes, the way he nervously played with the hem of his sweater and the slight shake to his hands. "This is about Hotch, isn't it?"

All Spencer did was look away. He needed to talk to Strauss before Hotch came in. It really hadn't been his intention for everyone on the team to know that he and Aaron were having problems. "I just need to talk to Strauss." As if it couldn't get anymore like a soap opera; at that moment Hotch walked in. Spencer had left before Aaron could see any of the damage that he'd inflicted the night before. So to see the dark bruise on his pale skin was alarming.

Reid all but jumped out of his seat the minute the light went on in Strauss' office. Hotch looked at him pleadingly . "Is there any way that we can discuss this?" Spencer didn't answer, he ran up the steps, took a quick breath and knocked on the door.

Hotch could feel Morgan's anger as soon as the door was shut. He knew that Morgan was waiting for an explanation. Hotch just took off his suit jacket and went into his office to hang it up, Morgan followed him. Hotch knew he was in for it when Morgan shut the door.

Morgan's voice was measured and quiet. "Did you do that to him?"

Hotch took a deep breath and turned so they were face-to-face. "Yes." He could read the anger in Derek's eyes. Hotch wanted to drop his gaze but forced himself to look Derek in the eye.

"How could you? He trusted you." By this point Derek was so close that Hotch could smell his aftershave.

Hotch shook his head. "I don't know how I let things get so bad; so out of control. I need help. I'm going to lose him forever."

Derek almost pitied Hotch. The man had already lost his wife and now, after everything that he'd been through, he was dangerously close to losing his boyfriend.

There was a knock on Hotch's door. He opened it to find Reid standing there. "Did you mean what you said?About getting help?"

Aaron took both of Reid's hands. "I will do whatever it takes to keep you. I've already lost so much, I can't bare to lose you too. Please, tell me that you'll give me another chance. Let me prove to you that I can be the boyfriend that I started out as."

Spencer looked at Derek, who shrugged. "It's your call Reid but considering all the hell you've been through, I don't think that a second chance is out of the question." Spencer leaned in close to Aaron, he was so close he could smell Aaron's aftershave and he could feel the heat of Aaron's skin.

"Okay Aaron. Here's the deal. You are going to AA, and if you ever hit me again I will leave you. I will transfer out of this unit so fast you won't know what hit you. I love you and Jack, but there is no way that I will be trapped in an abusive relationship and if I leave I will take Jack with me. Clear?"

As Aaron nodded his head, Morgan stared at them. The shock and surprise that he was feeling was clearly visible on his face.

Spencer left Hotch's office, closing the door behind him and being followed by Morgan. Before he walked down the stairs he stopped in front of the older man. "I'm willing to bet that you thought that he controlled the relationship, didn't you?"

As Derek nodded, Spencer shook his head. "We're equals. It's just sometimes I have to give him clear instructions."

Hotch watched through the window as both men walked down the stairs. He knew that when they got home that night, that there would be a long discussion and he'd dump any and all of his alcohol down the sink. He'd do it gladly as he was lucky that Spencer was giving him another chance to make things right. That made him the luckiest man in the world, Spencer was very important to him and he was determined to show him.


End file.
